Washington state man arrested in alleged Moreno Valley abduction of his child in 2014

RIVERSIDE — Law enforcement officials alleged in 2014 that Michael Stevens abducted his 18-month-old daughter while on a scheduled unsupervised visit in Moreno Valley.

Stevens, now 48, and his daughter had disappeared.

On Thursday, Stevens and his daughter, identified as Angelina Deluca by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, were found in the Lynnwood area of Washington State, north of Seattle, The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Friday.

Michael StevensSource: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Stevens was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on a Riverside County arrest warrant issued on July 29, 2014. He is being held without bail pending extradition to Riverside County.

The child was unharmed and “is now safe,” the statement from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said.

In 2014, Stevens’ daughter was a ward of the Riverside County dependency court and living in foster care.

Stevens, who had been granted unsupervised visitation, picked up his daughter from her foster mother for a scheduled weekend visit on March 7, 2014.

Law enforcement officials were notified when he didn’t return the girl on March 10, 2014, as required by the court. When investigators couldn’t find Stevens or his daughter, the arrest warrant was issued.

The big break in the case occurred a few week ago when the Pacific Southwest Fugitive Task Force received a tip that Stevens was in Washinton state selling vehicles through a Craigslist website.

Investigators found that Stevens was using the name “Michael Lee.”

They contacted that Snohomish County Violent Offender Task Force and members of that group arrested him.

The Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, Team 6, is made up of senior investigators from the Riverside County DA’s Office, special agents from the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, and inspectors with the U.S. Marshals Service.